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OMB Control No: 1902-0089	ICR Reference No: 202211-1902-002
Status: Historical Active	Previous ICR Reference No: 201903-1902-008
Agency/Subagency: FERC	Agency Tracking No: FERC-550
Title: FERC-550, Oil Pipeline Rates - Tariff Filings and Depreciation Studies
Type of Information Collection: Extension without change of a currently approved collection	Common Form ICR: No
Type of Review Request: Regular
OIRA Conclusion Action: Approved with change	Conclusion Date: 07/31/2023
	Date Received in OIRA: 11/28/2022
Terms of Clearance:

	Inventory as of this Action	Requested	Previously Approved
Expiration Date	07/31/2026	36 Months From Approved	07/31/2023
Responses	796	0	710
Time Burden (Hours)	6,298	0	5,538
Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Abstract: The Commission's regulatory jurisdiction over oil pipelines includes: (a)the regulation of rates and practices of oil pipeline companies engaged in interstate transportation; (b)the establishment of equal service conditions to provide shippers with equal access to pipeline transportation; and (c)the establishment of reasonable rates for transporting petroleum and petroleum products by pipeline. Order No. 561 (issued 10/22/1993 in Docket No. RM93-11) revised the Commission’s “regulations of oil pipelines in order to implement the requirements of Title XVIII of the Energy Policy Act of 1992. The revisions provide a simplified and generally applicable method for regulating oil pipeline rates by use of an index for setting rate ceilings for such rates. In certain circumstances, an oil pipeline would be permitted to establish rates using a traditional cost of service or other methods of ratemaking.” As discussed further in Order No. 650 (issued 8/27/2004 in Docket RM93-11-002), “[a]mong other things, Order No. 561 established a price cap for oil pipeline rates, to be adjusted annually based upon changes in the Producer Price Index for Finished Goods (published each May by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics) minus one percent (PPI-1). Order No. 561 recognized that its responsibilities under the Interstate Commerce Act, to both shippers and pipelines, required monitoring of the relationship between the change in the selected index and the actual cost changes experienced by the industry. Therefore, the Commission stated that it would review the choice of index every 5 years. ” The filing requirements for oil pipeline tariffs and rates under the FERC-550 data collection provide the Commission with the information it needs to analyze the rates, practices, and service conditions of oil pipelines. As a result, the Commission can implement statutory directives for the federal regulation of these carriers to determine whether the proposed tariffs and rates are just and reasonable.

Authorizing Statute(s): US Code: 49 USC 1 Name of Law: Interstate Commerce Act

Citations for New Statutory Requirements: None

Associated Rulemaking Information
RIN:	Stage of Rulemaking:	Federal Register Citation:	Date:
	Not associated with rulemaking

Federal Register Notices & Comments
60-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	87 FR 54683	09/07/2022
30-day Notice:	Federal Register Citation:	Citation Date:
	87 FR 71608	11/23/2022
Did the Agency receive public comments on this ICR? No

Number of Information Collection (IC) in this ICR: 2

IC Title	Form No.	Form Name
FERC-550: Oil Pipeline Rates - Tariff Filings
Oil Pipeline Rates - Depreciation Studies

ICR Summary of Burden

	Total Approved	Previously Approved	Change Due to Adjustment in Estimate
Annual Number of Responses	796	710	86
Annual Time Burden (Hours)	6,298	5,538	760
Annual Cost Burden (Dollars)	0	0	0

Burden increases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Increase Due to:

Burden decreases because of Program Change due to Agency Discretion: No

Burden Reduction Due to:

Short Statement: The reporting requirements and estimated average burden hours per response have not changed. In Question 12, the numbers for respondents and responses are based on a three-year average of the number of actual responses FERC received from in 2019-2021. While the number of responses fluctuates from year to year, recent data on the actual number of responses should be representative of the number of responses for the next three years. In this renewal, although there are no changes to the reporting requirements, staff is updating the burden related to this collection which now includes a new line item: Depreciation Studies, which is currently approved by OMB under the FERC collection FERC-550 (1902-0089). Historically, these studies were combined with other requirements outlined in 18 CFR Parts 341 through 348, but staff determined to break it out as its own line item to increase accuracy. Depreciation studies are required if an oil pipeline seeks to modify the depreciation rates they have in their existing tariffs. Since these filings are submitted only for pipelines seeking modification and are rarer (<10% of filings) than other reporting requirements such as indexing. Staff is correcting the estimates by adding a new line item specific to depreciation studies. Based on recent experience with this collection, staff estimates that 22 respondents will file a depreciation study each year. By separating depreciation studies from tariff filings, this adjustment will allocate 880 total burden hours to the depreciation studies line item now being added. In another adjustment, the number of hours for Oil Rates and Tariff Filings will decrease from 7.8 hours to 7 hours per respondent due to the hour allocation going to the second line (Depreciation Studies) in the table below. Additionally, since the previous renewal, the number of respondents to Oil Rates and Tariff filings also increased from 219 to 258 based on the number of filings received by the Commission The overall revised burden estimates result to an increase of 61 respondents from 219 to 280, 86 responses from 710 to 796, and 760 hours from 5,538 to 6,298.

Annual Cost to Federal Government: $1,519,630

Does this IC contain surveys, censuses, or employ statistical methods? No

Does this ICR request any personally identifiable information (see OMB Circular No. A-130 for an explanation of this term)? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Does this ICR include a form that requires a Privacy Act Statement (see 5 U.S.C. §552a(e)(3))? Please consult with your agency's privacy program when making this determination. No

Is this ICR related to the Affordable Care Act [Pub. L. 111-148 & 111-152]? No

Is this ICR related to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, [Pub. L. 111-203]? No

Is this ICR related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA)? No

Is this ICR related to the Pandemic Response? No

Agency Contact: Tracy DeMarr 202 502-8187

View ICR - OIRA Conclusion